


leave your date of birth (you amateur to war)

by antarcticas



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: (he sort of hates himself), Angst, F/M, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Implied Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Prose Poem, Zuko (Avatar)-centric, that's it that's the entire fic, zuko is an emotional mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:33:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24875446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antarcticas/pseuds/antarcticas
Summary: the truth hurts when it crawls up between your ribs /Zuko-centric prose, implied Zutara.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	leave your date of birth (you amateur to war)

**fire is a four-letter word** **  
** like _hope,_ like _love_ _  
_ it sings like a bird waiting to fly:  
only the ground is too close  
and you are (collapsed) here  
like **penance.**

**/**

all of the _king’s_ soldiers &  
all the _king’s_ men  
leave you in the  
**dust of a different world**

when you touch the sky  
it turns  
**black** **  
** (let the air spread your ashes;  
I hope tomorrow leaves you a different  
fairy tale.)

/

to tell a lover story  
the sun creates you  
in the distance of the sea:

tomorrow you will wake  
up in the middle of a  
revolution and— 

(will you be on _fire?_ _  
_ or is this manufactured?)

—you will tie yourself  
to a girl with eyes like  
the ocean—

(large, blue, aching  
and sure destruction.)

she takes apart your **heart  
**and leaves you _gasping_ for air

how the tables have turned  
here in a different universe, except here  
you see an angel on the horizon;  
her kiss is (not) death  
but it goes through your **soul**

/

when you were young were you told  
stories about 

**w** **  
** **a** **  
** **r** **  
** **?**

there is a _destructive_ thing here  
which creeps up into bones  
and carves homes into flesh

—listen to the girl who talks to you  
about sin, give her your insides,  
have you ever learned about loss— 

**mother** once told you  
to be yourself

(she could see you now,  
holding a broken crown,  
and claim _murderer!_

the truth hurts when it  
crawls up between your ribs)

/

you **have yourself:**

_honor_ is a tilt of your chin  
& two swords singing

_pride_ is a people falling  
& a mighty roar

_power_ is clanging metal  
& blue flames unwavering

/

you **do not have yourself:**

_fire_ is blood in your veins  
& scarred skin in anguish

_hope_ is a disappearing moon  
& a silent palace

_love_ is a water girl’s eyes  
& fountain kisses

/

_fancy yourself a phoenix,_ _  
_ boy with the red painted frown  
and golden marked crown  
and army standing down

_fancy yourself a warrior,_ _  
_ boy with the dark heated flame  
and invisible torturous name  
and sun bleached shame

_fancy yourself a lover,_ _  
_ boy with the lovingly hated eyes  
and gorgeous scripted lies  
and heartbroken cries

/

**love is a four-letter word** **  
** like _hope,_ like _fire_ _  
_ it falls like a legend never told:  
only you are written in ink  
and you are (terrible) here  
like **torture.**

/

a comet streaks over the horizon  
& your hands are tied together  
( _you amateur to war—_  
this is not victory.) 


End file.
